Do you actually need a VPN in Germany?
VPNs are legal in Germany. There is no ban, no licensing and no restriction on providers; both of our picks run servers in the country and sell openly to German customers. Messaging, VoIP, social media and news are all open. What Germany does have is strict copyright enforcement. Torrenting a film on a German connection can bring an Abmahnung from a specialist law firm, and the CUII, set up by ISPs and rights holders in 2021, DNS-blocks sites it judges to exist mainly for piracy, such as The Pirate Bay and kinox.to. A VPN does not make piracy legal and we do not suggest it for that.
The everyday reason is Wi-Fi. The 2017 repeal of Störerhaftung, which had made a hotspot owner liable for guests, made free hotspots far more common: Deutsche Bahn offers free Wi-Fi on ICE trains, and hotels, bakeries, coworking spaces and city networks in Berlin and Hamburg are open to anyone. That convenience is exactly where banking and work logins are exposed, and an encrypted tunnel removes the problem.
Location is the other reason. UK bank apps occasionally refuse a German IP, and BBC iPlayer and ITVX will not play from one; a UK server fixes both. If the app misbehaves on a train through Bavaria, 24/7 live chat from NordVPN or Surfshark is the fastest way to sort it.
What a VPN does and does not do in Germany
A VPN encrypts the link between your device and the VPN server, so the hotel, the train operator and anyone else on the hotspot see only scrambled traffic, and the connection owner cannot be tied to what you do on it. It also lets you choose where you appear to be: a London server makes UK banking, iPlayer and Netflix behave as they do at home, while a Frankfurt or Berlin server, which both of our picks offer, keeps German sites and payment pages treating you as local.
It will not fix the thin signal in a rural Gasthaus, it will not get around a broadcaster that has already blocked a VPN range, and it does not make downloading copyrighted material legal. Both picks carry a 30-day money-back guarantee, so test them on your actual connections: NordVPN for a city break or a work trip, Surfshark if you are relocating or staying a semester.
Recommended VPNs for Germany
NordVPN, best for short trips and month-by-month plans
It is the one for you if you are covering yourself, or you and a partner, and want something simple to run and easy to forget about. One plan covers 10 devices, and the apps are quick to install and easy to switch off and on as you need. Plans run by the month, the year or over two years, all with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Surfshark, best for long stays and unlimited devices
It is the one for you if one subscription needs to cover everyone. Connections are unlimited, so every phone, laptop and tablet you travel with, and anyone you share a place with, runs on the same plan at once. That suits a stay that stretches to months rather than weeks. It sells the same three terms and adds bonus months on the longer two, with the same 30-day money-back guarantee.
Server networks and speeds in Germany
Both of our picks run servers inside Germany. NordVPN lists Berlin, Frankfurt and Hamburg; Surfshark lists Frankfurt am Main and Berlin. Frankfurt hosts DE-CIX, one of the world's largest internet exchanges, so a Frankfurt server adds almost no latency from anywhere in the country, and London is a single short hop for UK services.
Mobile speeds are solid rather than spectacular for a country this rich. Opensignal's November 2025 report, covering July to September 2025, put average downloads at 68.9 Mbps on Telekom, 56.3 Mbps on Vodafone and 47.4 Mbps on O2, with Telekom's 5G averaging 173.8 Mbps. Coverage gaps on rural rail lines are a long-running complaint, so expect train Wi-Fi to come and go.
How to choose between them
The differences that matter fit in one table, and the last two rows are there to name two promises you should not believe from anyone, us included.
| Feature | NordVPN | Surfshark |
|---|
| 1 month | $14.99 | $16.45 |
| 1 year plan, total upfront | $65.88 (12 months billed) | $50.85 (15 months billed) |
| 2 year plan, total upfront | $94.23 (27 months billed) | $67.23 (27 months billed) |
| Devices per plan | 10 | Unlimited |
| Kill switch and auto-connect | Yes | Yes |
| Independently audited no-log policy | Yes (2025) | Yes (2025) |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days | 30 days |
| Guarantees access to any blocked site, anywhere | No | No |
| Makes slow Wi-Fi faster | No | No |
On a single month NordVPN is cheaper. Over a year or two Surfshark is. On everything else the choice is about shape rather than money: 10 devices and a simple setup on one side, unlimited devices on the other.
Setting up before you travel
Do the setup at home, on Wi-Fi you trust, before the airport. Install NordVPN or Surfshark on each device, sign in, and connect once to confirm everything works. Then turn on two settings both apps include: the kill switch, which stops your traffic travelling unprotected if the VPN drops, and auto-connect, which brings the VPN back up when your connection returns.
Install and log in before you fly, then turn on the kill switch so a dropped Wi-Fi connection on an ICE does not leak traffic. Save a UK server as your default for banking and iPlayer and a Frankfurt or Berlin server for German sites. German prepaid SIMs must be registered to an ID document, and shops will ask for a passport, so a data eSIM set up before you land is simpler for a short trip. Our Best eSIMs for Germany guide covers the options and which networks they run on.
Final recommendation
Germany is a low-risk country for VPN use: legal, nothing a visitor needs is blocked, and both providers have servers in several German cities. For a city break, a trade fair or a fortnight travelling by rail, NordVPN is the pick. Berlin, Frankfurt and Hamburg servers cover the country, its UK servers handle banking and iPlayer, and ten device connections look after a family's phones and laptops.
If you are relocating for work, starting a semester or settling into a Berlin flat, Surfshark is the better value. Unlimited devices covers every phone, laptop and TV box on one account, and its Frankfurt and Berlin servers keep everyday latency low.
